Some are struggling, for reasons that do and dont have to do with our current political environment.
Mykah, 18, experienced a severe mental health crisis after not getting into their dream college.
I stole a zebra for this, the caption deadpans.
General view of the atmosphere at the Drag March for Trans Rights at Rich’s on June 18, 2023 in San Diego, California.Daniel Knighton/Getty Images
Thats what kids do before theyre taught.
I was just one of the boys.
Im really scared to become friends with new people, he says with a tremble of his chin.
I dont really get the choice of when to come out to people.
I used to play the keyboard or the piano for worship during church.
Now its hard for me to listen to worship music.
If I hear a song somewhere, it might hit me as a song that we used to sing.
I have to turn it off, or I have to leave.
That doesnt mean that the decision wasnt agonizing or that they dont still feel its punishing weight.
Oh, I miss it, she would say, plaintively, her face pressed against her mirrored self.
He doesnt know Im trans.
He was one year old when I came out.
Wyatts trip was to Omaha.
In each little envelope was a slip of paper, Jeremy says over the dining room table.
We did something special every day in December.
One day it would be, Lets put up the Christmas tree!
One day would be like, Hey, open up a gift early!
One of them was almost always: Lets go to Bonanza.
That love of custom carried over into how Jeremy raised his children.
Jeremy swears the unwrapping ceremony gets shorter every year, but Wyatt disputes that characterization.
It took eight hours last year, he interjects, with three breaks!
Youre always willing to find a way to make something work, he says.
I was warned ahead of time that someone always cries during gift-giving, and today is Susans turn.
I didnt know how much like you I was, she says, holding back a sniffle.
One of the things I learned from you was work ethic.
I always put everything into my work, and I got that from you.
Dontlet that happen, she says, her eyes uncharacteristically intense.
Its a bit too late for that, he says.
Excerpted fromAmerican Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Eraby Nico Lang.
Copyright 2024 by Nico Lang.
Published and reprinted by permission of Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS.
